The Proceeds

Ring The Bell is hosted by Bells Bend Conservation Corridor, whose mission is to promote and protect the rural character of the Bells Bend area by establishing an outdoor recreational, agricultural, and residential conservation district that serves as a county, state and regional planning model for open space preservation.

Proceeds will be used to execute the above mission by providing funding for conservation easements and funding programs that promote farm education, environmental stewardship, and the importance of land preservation.

About Bells Bend

A community nestled in the bend of the Cumberland River with rich history dating back to what has been found to be as early as 9000 BCE. Bells Bend offers rich history of its native ancestors amongst its hills, including sacred burial sites and ancient family dwellings discovered in recent archaeological digs.

Farming has been a lifestyle in Bells Bend for as long as we can date back. The heyday of agriculture in the Bend was in the early 1900's when many families were farming thousands of acres in the fertile bottomlands. The reason for this fertility is the occasional massive Cumberland River flood, which brought new sediment int the fields. Huge floods in 1926 and 2010 were reminders of the power of the river and the replenishment of the land for farming purposes. The community shared the largest steam-powered grain threshing machine in the area. Crops such as corn, wheat, barley, flax, buckwheat, oats, turnips, watermelons, soybeans were grown in large amounts. There were over 7 operating dairies in the Bend at one time. Many farms had cattle and hogs, and everyone preserved their own foods. Over time, the farm economy declined, but pastureland and fields have remained.

Bells Bend is unique because it is only six miles west of downtown Nashville as the crow flies (14 miles by road), yet it has retained its agricultural and rural character.

Our community is made up of only a couple hundred people living in the Bend despite being surrounded by a metro area with nearly two-million people. Friends of the Bend have been close knit in fighting off numerous developments over the years. In the 1970's, Kodak Eastman proposed and planned a chemical plant in the Bend. Between 1988 and 1991, there were multiple proposals for an 800 acre landfill, which when fought off became Bells Bend Park instead, thanks to many major protests and tractor parades to downtown Nashville. In 2005, there was a proposal for a 1,200 unit housing development, and in 2008, the proposed "May Town Center" would have created three bridges, 6,000 condos and 600,000 square feet of shops and offices, including a skyscraper. This would have destroyed Bells Bend as we know it.

As Nashville grows, it's our responsibility to make sure The Bend grows in a direction which honors the land and its rich history. Join us in the fight to keep Bells Bend rural and kept up with thoughtful agriculture practices.